Into the Light: Sunderland’s Premier League Return | The Players' Tribune Into the Light: Sunderland’s Premier League Return

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Luke O'Nien: I’ve now been here for seven years and I’ve had the best years of my life. Take football out of it — I’ve got married to a woman I love. I’ve had two of the most beautiful kids, raising my family in the North East. Add football into it? Jesus Christ, I don’t even know what words to use to describe it. We’ve had promotions, we’ve had losses, we’ve had last-minute winners. We’ve had Ballard’s goal, we’ve had Tommy’s goal. It’s incredible what’s happened. We have a goal, we have put steps in place to get there, and when we go wrong, we rally, we go again. This club needs to get back to the very minimum of where it was, top half of the Premier League. And then once we get there, there is no taking the foot off the accelerator. It is going again and again and again and again. And if you’re not aiming for the top, what’s the point?

Into the Light: Sunderland’s Premier League Return

PHOTOS BY PHOTOGRAPHER NAME/The Players' Tribune

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PHOTOS BY Jesse Ilan Kornbluth for The Players’ Tribune

On August 16, Sunderland’s eight-year journey back to the top tier of English football ended. The Stadium of Light rattled as Mackems poured in to cheer on the Black Cats in their 3–0 rout of West Ham. The Players’ Tribune was granted access to follow captain Granit Xhaka, Luke O’Nien and Chris Rigg, along with 48,700-plus fans through training and the events of the weekend to showcase just what this occasion means for the club, the city and the people who have carried Sunderland through its most difficult years.

Granit Xhaka: I didn’t expect it to be back in the Premier League after two years in Germany. But the moment I spoke to the club, I knew I wanted to be a part of this new challenge. To be a part of a special project, to experience the passion from the fans, the history of the club. It’s unbelievable. I think the mentality, the hunger, comes from my parent’s side: You need to deserve where you are. You need to earn your place on the pitch, game by game. I demand a lot from myself, and if you go in front, the team will follow you as well. To work day by day with a strong mentality, I believe that good things will happen. Moving to Switzerland with nobody, without any help, and today we have everything. You need to be thankful day by day and sometimes you just need to give people back what they give you to be there where you are.

Chris Rigg: To be able to learn from players like Luke, and now Granit, I feel like I’m ready to showcase what I can do in the biggest League in the world. To play a role in the playoff final and be a part of the history of this club has been the proudest achievement in my career so far, and if you would ask any of the other lads, they would say the same. Our fans have been with us every step of our journey, and they have been crucial for our success. Last season, they were our 12th man. Ballard’s goal, the win at Wembley, they have been electric throughout every moment, and as a local lad who has been here my whole life, it’s a really proud feeling for me to play for this club and for the people of Sunderland.

Granit Xhaka: There have been big changes within the club. Without the work from the players who were already here, we would not be where we are today. Every day, we push each other more and more, and together we can achieve many, many good things.

Luke O’Nien: The Premier League can throw anything at us this season, next season, or the season after that because I know that we will get through it because this club has been through everything that football can throw at you.